Calendar watch setting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A MECHANISM FOR SETTING THE MINUTE AND HOUR HANDS AND THE DATE INDICATOR OF A WATCH INVOLVING AN AXIALLY SHIFTABLE SETTING STEM AND MEANS TO PERMIT RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE DATE INDICATING MEMBER AND ITS SETTING DRIVE MEMBER.

Nov. 16, 1971 R. ZAUGG 3,620,006

CALENDAR WATCH SETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 5. 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ROLAND ZAUGG ATTORNEYS CALENDAR WATCH SETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 3, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.

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CALENDAR WATCH SETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 3, 1969 5 Sheets-Shoot 5 INVENTOR ROLAND ZAUGG BY MMMwML ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice Patented Nov. 16, 1971 CALENDAR WATCH SETTING MECHANISM Roland Zaugg, Grenchen, Switzerland, assignor to Centre Electronique Horloger S.A., Neuchatel, Switzerland Filed Oct. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 863,442 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Oct. 11, 1968, 15,252/ 68; June 4, 1969, 8,523/ 69 Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 US. Cl. 58--,58 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mechanism for setting the minute and hour hands and the date indicator of a watch involving an axially shiftable setting stern and means to permit relative movement between the date indicating member and its setting drive member.

This invention relates to watches of the type which include a date indicating means in the form of a ring which rotates one increment for each twenty-four hour time period so as to indicate a new day in an appropriate viewing window and, further, this invention relates to such watches wherein a common stem is axially shiftable so as to either engage hand-setting or date ring-setting elements of the mechanism.

Most known setting mechanisms for date indicating watches comprise a gearing arrangement with change over gears respectively for setting the minute and hour hands or the date ring. These mechanisms, however, occupy considerable space and they are costly to construct because of their relative complexity. Such a mechanism is in fact disclosed in Swiss patent application 15,915/ 67 wherein a date ring setting pinion is shown as being constantly engaged with the date ring whereby only a slight turn of the pinion is required in order to eifect a setting of said date ring. If said pinion were, in turn, always engaged with an axially shiftable stem in only one axial position thereof while a hands setting pinion were engaged with said stem in only another axial position thereof, said date ring would necessarily be moved due to inadvertent or otherwise unintended movements of said stem while in said one position. In this regard, it is easy to visualize such unintended stem movements since the stem extends outwardly of the movement case to an exposed crown, as is well known. This situation obviously renders the date indication unreliable.

According to this invention, however, a setting mechanism is provided wherein a stem is axially shiftable in order to respectively engage either the date ring or the hands setting members, but the date ring setting members are so arranged that some degree of movement of the date ring relative to the related setting mechanism is possible so that slight unintended movements of the stem will not necessarily shift said ring.

In a first embodiment of the invention such relative moveability is realized by means of a lobed rotary cam member which must rotate through a certain are before a one of its lobes engages teeth on the date ring.

In another embodiment, the ring driving member comprises radially resiliently yieldable ring-engaging fingers. In this regard, it should be noted that damage to the mechanism or to the movement elements which normally drive the date ring, can occur if the date ring is some how shifted as by jolts, etc., in which case the lobes of the first embodiment would radially jam with the teeth of said ring during setting thereof. The second embodiment, therefore, precludes such damage by virtue of the resilient ring engaging fingers being able to yield radially.

An object of the invention, therefore, is the provision of a combined hands and date ring setting mechanism wherein unintended movements of the setting stem are not transmitted to the date ring.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a date ring setting mechanism wherein relative movement between the date ring and its related setting member is possible.

A further object of the invention is the realization of a combined hands and date ring setting mechanism involving an axially shiftable stem which is rotatable to some extent without shiftng said ring although axially positioned for setting same.

A still further object is the realization of a date ring setting mechanism which is protected against damage in the event that the date ring unintentionally shifts to an out of phase position relative to the related setting drive member.

Other objects are those which are inherent and/or obvious in the present disclosure of various embodiments of the invention a detailed descripton of which follows which is referred to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a setting mehanism according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines AB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view analogous to FIG. 2 of a setting mechanism according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial view of the mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a setting mechanism according to a third embodiment of the invention; and,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view analogous to FIG. 2 of the mechanism of FIG. 5.

In the drawings, corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numbers in the respective figures.

In all three embodiments a date ring 1 is rotatably supported in an annular groove 2 of a plate 3 and held therein by a cover 4. Furthermore, in all three embodiments, the date ring 1 includes a series of teeth 7 along its inner perphery which are engaged by a latch member 6 which is resiliently urged into engagement with said teeth by spring 5 in order to hold said ring 1 against movements induced by shocks, jolts, etc.

In the FIGS. 1 and 5 embodiments, a stem 9 is axially shiftably supported in axially aligned bores 10 and 11 which are formed in plate 3. A rocker arm, of the type shown in FIG. 4 at 33, engages stem 9 within groove 12 thereof while a yoke member 13 (FIGS. 2 and 6), which forms part of the rocker arm arrangement, engages a clutch member 15 within groove 14 thereof. Said clutch member 15 is axially slidable along a splined portion 16 of stem 9 through axially directed movements of said yoke member 13, said clutch member 15, therefore, being rotatably rigid with said stem 9. The clutch member 15 is slidable along stem 9 to one axial position wherein said clutch member is unidirectionally drivingly engaged with pinion 18 through a ratchet tooth means 17, or it is slidable along said stem to another axial position in which it is drivingly engaged with a wheel 24 whose rotatonal axis is perpendicular to that of stem 9 and which is drivingly engaged with minute hand wheel 25.

Pinion 18 in FIGS. 2 and 5 is drivingly engaged with date ring setting wheel 20 which is rotatably mounted about an axis perpendicular to that of stem 9, there being a reduction gear ratio between pinion 18 and wheel 20 of about 1.3 to 2.0. Said wheel 20 is in turn coaxially drivingly connected with a lobed cam plate 22, said wheel being rotatably supported at 21 in cover 4.

It is to be noted that yoke member 13 is resiliently yieldable along the axial direction of stem 9 -(as seen in FIGS. 2 and 6) so that the clutch member functions as a slip clutch relative to the pinion 18 when stem 9 is turned in one direction.

The rocker arm arrangement, which is not shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 but which is well known, is such that when stem 9 is pulled outwardly of plate 3 (stem 9 is not shown with the conventional crown which it is understood it has mounted at its outer end to permit manipulation of the stern) yoke member 13 shifts clutch member 15 to the dash line position 16 of FIG. 2 whereby the minute and hour hands of the movement may be set by turning of said stem in the usual manner. On the other hand, when said stem is pushed inwardly, the yoke member 13 shifts clutch member 15 to the full line position shown in FIG. 2, whereby turning of said stem in one direction results in a turning of cam plate 22.

In the FIGS. 1 and 2 embodiment, the cam plate 22 comprises four radially projecting lobes separated by arcuate recesses into which a spring member 23 fits so as to hold the cam plate in a neutral position as shown whereby the ring 1 may be driven normally by the movement without obstruction from the lobes. The plate 22, however, is coplanar with ring 1 and the circumferential path of said lobes radially overlaps the radial extent of the ring teeth 7 whereby rotation of plate 22 by means of stem 9 results in one of the lobes abutting against the backside of one of the teeth 7 and turning of the ring 1.

With the stated reduction gear ratio of 1.3 to 2.0 between pinion 18 and wheel 20, and with a total of four lobes on plate 22, it requires about one-third of a full revolution of stem 9 in order to realize a one tooth rotation of date ring 1.

The second embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 only in that the stem has three instead of two axial positions, namely:

(a) a pulled out position whereby clutch member 15 engages intermediate wheel 24;

(b) a fully pushed in position against the urging of spring 32 whereby clutch member 15 engages pinion 18; and

(c) an intermediate position as shown in FIG. 4 whereby clutch member 15 engages neither said wheel 24 not said pinion 18.

The rocker arm arrangement which effects this triple positioning of the clutch includes arm 33, yoke member 31, leaf spring 35, and a notched spring 34. Arm 33 engages stem in notch 36 thereof and said arm also controls the operation of yoke member 31 which is pivotable against the urging of spring 35. A pin 38 on arm 33 successively cooperates with a respective one of notches 37, 37 in spring 34 in order to determine two of the three axial positions of stem 30.

The essential features of the FIG. 4 rocker arm arrangement are known and in any event quite clear from the figure so that no further explanation thereof is necessary.

Those parts of the second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 but not specifically described are essentially the same as the corresponding parts in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A disadvantage of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1 resides in the possibility that a lobe of cam plate 22 will strike against the crest of a tooth 7 rather than in the recess between two successive teeth. Since the date ring 1 and cam plate 22 are rotatable about fixed axes and since the circumferential path of the lobes radially overlaps that of the teeth 7 in a common plane, it is clear that if a lobe hits against the crest of a tooth something will have to give it a turning force is imposed upon the plate 22. Such a situation could occur if date ring 1 were to be slightly nudged as by shocks, jolts, etc., to an out of phase position relative to cam plate 22, so that upon an eventual turning of cam plate 22 by the watch user, a lobe would encounter the crest of a tooth 7 rather than the recess between two teeth. A forced turning of cam plate 22 by the user manipulating stem 9 would result in jamming or some damage to the mechanism and possibly to the drive arrangement between the not shown watch movement and the date ring 1.

The embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 overcomes this problem by providing a rotary cam plate 22 analogous to cam plate 22 excepting that cam plate 22 has no rigid part which radially overlaps the circumferential path of teeth 7. Instead, a pair of resiliently flexible elongate finger members 40 and 41 are respectively attached at one end to cam plate 22' while free ends 42, 43 thereof do overlap said path of teeth 7 and are appropriately hook-shaped to grip against the backside of a tooth 7 when plate 22' is turned clockwise in FIG. 5. As is clear in FIG. 5, the fingers 40, 41 are arranged to flex radially inwardly (relative to the axis of plate 22) if hook end 42 or 43 were to abut against the crest of a tooth 7 while plate 22 is turning clockwise. The plate 22 could then continue to be turned with the hook end 42 or 43 simply sliding past the tooth crest until said hook end would spring outwardly into the next recess between the teeth 7. In the at rest positions if the cam plate 22' (for example the position of FIG. 5) the date ring 1 may be turned normally by the movement without teeth 7 encountering hook ends 42 or 43.

In the illustrated embodiment, two fingers are provided symmetrically positioned on a four lobe cam plate 22'. The number of such fingers determine the extent to which the plate 22 must be turned in order to effect a one tooth displacement of date ring 1.

Spring 39 is analogous to spring 23 in FIG. 1 and merely serves to determine the at rest or neutral positions of cam plate 22' by said spring engaging the cam plate in the respective recesses between lobes.

The operation of the various parts of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 is the same as that of the correspondingly numbered parts in the other drawing figures.

Various details presented herein with reference to specific embodiments of realization of the invention are merely illustrative and not limitative of the range of applicability of the herein disclosed inventive concepts, it being possible to vary such details without departing from such concepts.

What is claimed is:

1. A watch having time indicating means and a date indicating means and a common setting means for both comprising a rotatable stem manipulable from outwardly of the watch case, said stem being shiftable between first and second positions respectively corresponding to said stem being dri'vingly connected with said time indicating means and with said date indicating means, said stem being rotatable to a certain extent while in said second position thereof without changing the setting of said date indicating means, said date indicating means comprising a toothed member and the setting means therefor comprising a tooth engaging member drivingly connected with said stem when the latter is in said second position thereof, said tooth engaging member being movable to a limited extent relative to said toothed member without changing the setting thereof, said toothed member being a rotary date ring having date indications along one surface thereof and a series of teeth along one surface thereof, said ring being normally rotatively driven by the watch movement to advance one rotational increment per 24 hour period, said tooth engaging member being a rotary member, a tooth engaging portion of which follows a rotational path radially overlapping that of said teeth in the same plane therewith, said rotary member having a neutral position in which said tooth engaging portion lies outside the rotational path of said teeth, said rotary member being rotatable from said neutral position by said stem to a certain rotational extent without said tooth engaging portion thereof engaging a one of said teeth, said tooth engaging portion comprising a radially extending lobe means, comprising a plurality of radially extending tooth-like lobes circumferentially separated by recesses, a biasing means yieldably urged into a said recess in order to determine said neutral position for said rotary member.

2. The watch of claim 1, said tooth engaging portion being radially yieldable in a direction away from the rotational path of said teeth.

3. The watch of claim 1, said rotary member comprising a central rigid portion and at least one resiliently fiexible finger extending radially from said rigid portion, the outermost rotational path of said rigid portion being outside the rotational path of any part of said teeth while the rotational path of said finger radially overlapping that of said teeth in the same plane therewith, said finger being displaceable radially away from its said rotational path pursuant to said finger abutting against the crest of any of said teeth, in its said rotational path said finger being grippingly engagea'ble with the backside of any of said teeth in order to rotationally advance said date ring pursuant to rotation of said rotary member by said stem.

4. The watch of claim 1, said stem being rotatively drivingly connected to said tooth engaging member in said second position of said stem through a drive means providing a reduction gear ratio of 1.3 to 2.0 from said stem to said tooth engaging member.

5. A watch having time indicating means and a date indicating means and a common setting means for both comprising a rotatable stem manipulable from outwardly of the watch case, said stem being shiftable between first and second positions respectively corresponding to said stem being drivingly connected with said time indicating means and with said date indicating means, said stern being rotatable to a certain extent while in said second position thereof without changing the setting of said date indicating means, including a clutch means rotationally rigid with said stem but axially shiftable therealong between a first and second position thereof respectively corresponding to said clutch means rotationally drivingly connecting said stem with said time indicating means and with said date indicating means, respectively and including a pinion rotatably mounted around said stem and drivingly connected with said date indicating means, a

unidirectional ratchet type coupling connecting said pinion to said clutch means when said clutch means is in said second position thereof.

6. The watch of claim 5, said clutch means being shiftable between said positions thereof pursuant to axial shifting of said stem between said positions thereof.

7. The Watch of claim 5, including a setting drive member arranged to rotationally drive said date indicating means, said clutch means in said second position thereof drivingly connecting said stem with said drive member, a reduction gearing between said clutch member and said drive member providing a reduction ratio of 1.3 to 2.0 from said stem to said drive member.

8. The watch of claim 5, including a movement minute wheel and an intermediate gear wheel drivingly connected to the movement minute wheel, said clutch means including a gear drivingly engaged with said intermediate wheel when said clutch means is in said first position thereof.

9. The watch of claim 8, the axis of said stem being transverse to that of the movement minute wheel axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,177,647 4/1965 Meyer 58-58 3,248,868 5/1966 Polo et al. 58-58 3,470,687 10/1969 Ono et al. 58-58 3,470,688 10/ 1969 Miyaska 58-58 3,487,631 l/l970 Morita 58-58 FOREIGN PATENTS 365,673 12/ 1962 Switzerland. 412,724 11/ 1966 Switzerland.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner G. H. MILLER, 111., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. XJR. 58-5 

